Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.
Not A Number is run by Jon and Kara; who I first met at the Seattle Green Festival in 2008. These two have been a support to the Seattle community since first opening their doors five years ago. The store has hosted veterans’ events, local candidate forums, and book readings by progressive authors. Countless local artists and small businesses (like us!) have found a home for their passion on the shelves of Not A Number.
Stop by Not A Number for one of our very green and very sexy coffee cups. If you want a cup but cannot trek to Wallingford for your 16 ounces of eco-friendliness, order one online!Our webstore hosts several different coffee cups, and a collection of T-shirts. Find it here at: www.SustainabilityIsSexy.com
Coffee Cup Snap Shot
Worry no more about the effects of petroleum and plastic coming from standard cups. This reusable-compostable cup is made using 100% US grown corn. The lid is a flexible rubber, certified safe by the FDA.
This March, Seattle Public Utilities quietly rolled out an updated city-wide recycling plan with the type of efficiency critics rarely expect from government.Billed as “Better Recycling”, the changes appease the vocal crescendo of recycle-maniacs who have been pushing for broader recycling options for years - and the top dogs in city hall who have set ambitious recycling goals.
The “better recycling” moniker is ambiguous, but the city has covered its bases.Everything from more pick-up days, to job security, to recycling accessibility is resulting from the program. But perhaps most interesting for us coffee-lovers is this: paper coffee cups are now recyclable.There are a few caveats; cups that are too dirty might still be sorted for the landfill, and foam covered cups don’t make the grade.Nonetheless, this rocked our world at SIS.New recycling options have the potential to alleviate tons of residential and commercial waste, and advocacy groups (us included) can heave a sigh of relief knowing the city can “walk the walk”.So does this mean we can close the books on the coffee cup issue? Or would a celebratory Irish coffee be premature?
Blue Skies for Eco-Coffee Drinkers
Seattle’s recycling progress should put smiles on java drinkers throughout the world’s coffee capital.The new coffee cup rule makes recycling more convenient and accessible.Seattleites seem prone to recycle on instinct, so tossing a cup into the right bin shouldn’t be a hard habit to change.And public recycling receptacles are already abundant throughout most of the metro area.It’s too early to predict any impact in quantitative terms, but past successes in Seattle are promising.In the first year of the big composting push, Seattleites remembered to toss 80,000 tons of food and yard waste into their compost bins.The common paper cup could very well be the summer-blockbuster sequel.
Of course, municipal reinforcements are always welcomed by environmental non-profits and advocacy groups.Recycling centers which can handle the complex materials of a disposable coffee cup come with a big price tag.Amidst tight budgets and a shaky economy, it’s fortunate that the upgrade wasn’t axed.
The new rules could have a big impact on long-term plans for eco-regulations too.It’s tough to enforce recycling when options are limited.But now that the city has stepped up to the plate, it’ll be possible to coerce those who create excessive trash to change their habitsAnd if the city is to hit its goal of diverting 60% of its waste to recycling and composting, this may happen soon.
Prevalient Clouds Still Abound
Despite the many benefits, environmentalists should be cautious not to succumb to hubris.As far as waste solutions go, broad recycling is a proven weapon.But conservationists cringe when “recycling” becomes the default solution to municipal environmental issues. Sure, disposable paper cups create landfill waste, and that’s not good. But what about trees, water, energy, petroleum, and other scarce resources gobbled up by cup production?Because of the extra resources consumed in the pick-up and recycling process, disposable coffee cups being recycled can claim evenmore energy than before!Unless new recycling trucks and sorting centers run on alternative energy, ecoists miss a flawless victory.
This solution also neglects to conserve one important resource in particular – money.Recycling, although eco-friendly and popular, does come with a cost.The city has to pay for the state-of-the-art recycling center, businesses must pay for recycling services, and coffee houses still have to pay for their disposable cups.A recent Wall Street Journal article cited a coffee shop owner in Pennsylvania who lost 40 cents per cup in costs. Comparably, promoting reusable coffee cups as a solution saves money for everyone.When it comes to a solution that’s friendly to both the financial and environmental bottom lines, recycling may take second place.
Could Seattle’s programs and commitment to recycling serve as the paragon for other municipalities?It would be an environmentalists dream to see every town and city embrace recycling like Seattle, but the reality is less rosy.Retrofitting a typical recycling center to process disposable coffee cups is costly and out of reach for most cities.And even though Seattle pushed these new recycling investments through the budget process, other municipalities may not be so lucky.I recently visited Lawrence, Kansas to speak with a campus group advocating for glass recycling in bars.The biggest obstacle they face is that glass recycling isn’t yet available.Chances are, spending money to recycle coffee cups is low on their priority list.
Even within the coffee capital, the new recycling solution misses a few targets.Broad recycling may be available, but there’s no guarantee that landlords will provide such amenities to commercial tenants.As Jim Hanna, Environmental Director for Starbucks pointed out in an SIS interview last year:
“Here in Seattle, where commercial recycling is generally available, we [Starbucks] often lease our store spaces from landlords; which may or may not provide us with recycling options… it’s important to understand that setting up recycling is subject to a lot more variables than just putting some bins out front.”
It isn’t just the torpor landlords putting up obstacles. Large Seattle institutions like the University of Washington find themselves left out of the celebratory recycling hubbub. An article titled “New City Recycling Program Not Instituted at UW” notes that contracts with disparate waste management companies are the root cause of UW evading the new rules.This quirky irregularity takes a more serious tone when it’s realized the campus burns through 5000 disposable cups a day.
So…what about that Irish coffee?
Bottom line, this is a major achievement for environmental movers, the city of Seattle, and coffee lovers.New recycling rules will undoubtedly lessen the amount of garbage from disposable drink containers.But only the most credulous of coffee drinkers should believe that the new regulations will close the case on paper cup’s environmental footprint.Conservation takes a back seat when recycling is driving progress, which does no good in protecting our natural resources.
Ultimately, it’s still the responsibility of coffee drinkers and the coffee business to actually do something about paper cups.Whether that means putting in the elbow grease to institute recycling or promoting and using reusable coffee cups, the city government can only do so much.
For close to two years, this group has been declaring that sustainability is sexy. Unfortunately, our website was not. With Earth Day is just around the corner, our team decided some serious house cleaning was in order. The end result? A 3 minute video titled “What’s So Great About Reusable Coffee Cups?“.
Besides the new powerpoint show, our online store has been updated as well. We finally caught up to 1999 and added a shopping cart system, so cups can be ordered online. FYI, all shipping fees, taxes, and other nickle ‘n dime charges are included in the listed price. If you’re looking for an eco-friendly, well made, and sustainably sexy coffee cup - then we have it!
A Quick Note: Last week I was invited to be a guest speaker during an Earth Day event hosted by a group of students at the University of Kansas. The group - Students for Bar Recycling - is making some amazing progress on instituting a serious recycling program in their city. I’m still putting my notes and thoughts together, but a re-cap will be coming shortly.
My father once explained to me why the Grateful Dead was so successful. “The Dead would take their money and pump it right back into their shows. When other bands were comfortable with house sound systems, the Grateful Dead spent a fortune developing a monstrous Wall of Sound that could be heard from a quarter mile away. Phil Lesh’s bass lines were so deep and loud that you didn’t just hear them - you felt them. The Grateful Dead weren’t selfish, they never focused solely on profit, and they cared about their fans and the music community. That’s why Deadheads are so loyal”.
Businesses often talk about customer loyalty. Yet it’s rare for a business to see the type of loyalty that was developed by the Dead. Pepsi-heads? McDonaldites? I think not.
However, some progressive organizations are beginning to take lessons from the jam band, and it’s beginning to show. Peace Coffee, a Minnesota based coffee company, is growing at an annual rate of 20%. This is a great rate during good times… but an absolute miracle considering today’s financial environment. For perspective, China’s growth rate in 2008 was around 10%. Starbucks saw annual growth rates of 27% during the dot-com decade. How is Peace Coffee able to seem unaffected by the financial storm in which we find ourselves? It’s hard to say without being the company accountant, but I have a hunch it’s from a business philosophy that considers a triple bottom line.
The term “triple bottom line” was coined in 1994, but the idea is older than that. Conceptually, a triple bottom line refers to a business practice of measuring and basing decisions on financial performance, ecological impact from company operations, and social effects on workers and their communities. At its reduction, the triple bottom line means caring about people, planet, and profit.
Peace Coffee applies the triple bottom line theory throughout a multitude of business aspects. Regional deliveries are done through bio-diesel vans or by bicycle. The coffee beans are grown by small coffee farmers and cooperatives and certified as fair trade. Peace Coffee’s recently installed coffee roaster is also equipped with a catalytic oxidizer - which burns away hydrocarbons to limit emissions. And these are just the tip of the iceberg. A full enumeration can be found at the Peace Coffee website, here.
The idealists in all of us love stories such as these. But the selfish cynics in the back of our minds are wondering “What’s in it for the business?”. Of course, the immediate effect of Peace Coffee’s triple bottom line will be beneficial to its surrounding environment and communities. The benefits even spread to small fair trade farmers and help pump money into eco-sound businesses, such as bio diesel companies. But the practice also develops long-lasting customer loyalty and relationships. Today’s customers are demanding that businesses be more personal, and more socially and environmentally conscious. Every time Peace Coffee delivers a product by bicycle, their meeting that specific consumer demand. And just like the Grateful Dead, Peace Coffee is cultivating a community and developing a loyalty that can weather a financial storm.
Of course, the pendulum can swing both ways. Metallica, the guitar-slinging antithesis to the Grateful Dead - learned this lesson a decade ago. Metal-heads all remember when Metallica prioritized profits over its fans by suing Napster for enabling music piracy in 2000. The legal action created an exodus of hard rock fans, some of whom had been fanatically loyal since the band’s early days. Years later, people are still bitter and CD sales have never recovered. In 2007, Metallica was named #17 on Blender’s list of “biggest wusses in rock”, citing its lawsuit against Napster. And the 1990’s remain Metallica’s glory decade, with the band’s 2003 release selling only 2 million copies (compared with 14 million for 1991’s “Black Album”).
“Selling Out” can hit business just as bluntly as a hard rock band. Nike’s choice to prioritize profits over social responsibilities by using sweatshop labor caused an uproar in 1997 among consumers. Social justice groups sprang up to protest Nike and demand boycotts. Even my alma mater experienced protests and many student groups demanded that the university athletic programs refrain from outfitting teams with Nike products. The negative publicity was a nightmare for Nike’s PR department, and the company’s reputation has remained stained ever since.
In the end, it truly depends on consumer demands. Consumers are evolving. We’re placing demands to businesses that are more complex than “cheaper and better”. Customers have become more engaged in many aspects of business. We want to see Company Social Responsibility Reports, we want to know carbon footprints, and we want to know that our money isn’t having a negative impact somewhere in the world. So do the other bottom lines truly count in the business world? For Peace Coffee and others, the answer should be a deafening YES.
Peace Coffee riders stay sustainable with reusable coffee mugs
Sustainability Is Sexy Plug:
Our online store is once again having a discount sale. Order any T-shirt, tank top, or canvas grocery bag by February 11th and receive a 14% discount. If you’re looking for a Sustainability Is Sexy reusable coffee mug, email support@sustainabilityissexy.com.
While cruising the internet, I found a fantastic video on disposable paper cups. The clip is about 90 seconds long, and was made by a group of students at the University of Washington. Besides the collection of great pictures and impressive facts, the message is important - that using your own coffee cup can have an astounding environmental impact. It’s worth watching.
To those familiar with Sustainability Is Sexy, the message will be familiar. The video does; however, point out one interesting fact that SIS hasn’t touched - There are no recycling bins in Starbucks stores.
Why is this? After all, Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, a caldera of eco-awareness. And the Emerald City doesn’t just talk the talk when it comes to the environment. According to Sustainable Industries, Seattle broke records in 2006 when nearly 50% of it’s collected waste went to recycling plants. The city did it again in 2008, when Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels banned plastic water bottles from city events, and proposed a fee on all paper and plastic grocery bags (a first in the nation, according to the Seattle Times).
However, it’s doubtful that Starbucks suffers from evil corporation syndrome. In fact, the answer may lie more in the realm of common sense. Most of the garbage produced by Starbucks is in the form of disposable coffee cups - and those cups can’t be recycled. The 2.3 billion “to-go” cups used by Starbucks every year are made from paper and covered with a thin plastic coating during the manufacturing process. SIS research shows the polyethylene plastic keeps liquids from leaking - but also renders the cup unrecycleable.
Not to say that Starbucks isn’t a purveyor of the problem. Twenty years ago, a stop into a coffee house was a rare part of morning routines. It was the Starbucks expansion in the 1990’s that led to the coffee culture phenomenon. And that phenomenon led to the prevelance of disposable coffee cups. Today, there’s not only a Starbucks on every corner, but a disposable cup in every coffee drinker’s hand.
So what can be done about the 2.3 billion cups that land in our nation’s dumps every year? Some environmentalists advocate that Starbucks should do more to make a recycle friendly cup. According to an article in the Columbus Dispatch, a manager of materials and engineer at SOLO Cup believes Starbucks isn’t doing all the can. “It’s all about the money; the question is whether they would be willing to pay for it”. Others advocate for a the coffee giant to make compostable cups, as does it’s regional rival, Tully’s Coffee.
However, both of these band-aid solutions avoid the real problem at hand - that our caffeine habits have become reliant on disposables. In the end, it’s up to the consumer. As an eco-friendly coffee drinker, you have the option to use your own reusable mug every day. Bring it! You’re efforts will save trees and energy, and reduce landfill garbage. If every coffee drinker used their own cup, there would be no need for recycle friendly disposables.
Who knows, maybe one day we could even rid Starbucks of the need for garbage cans too.
Sustainability Is Sexy packed up its bags and went back to it’s roots for Earth Day last week. The University of Washington hosted Seattle’s biggest Earth Day fair - and SIS was there to spread the message about coffee cups and waste.
It’s been close to a year since I graduated from UW. Returning to a familiar place from the past can be a bit nerve-wrecking. Would people still care? Would my message be taken seriously? Because I’m a “real adult”, would anyone listen?
The answer to those questions were overwhelming. We were hit with a stampede of interest even before our set-up was finished. Maybe it was the new “Sustainability Is Sexy” coffee mugs, or maybe it was the brilliant bright green all around. But no matter what the draw, everyone wanted to know what SIS was all about. Most importantly, everyone wanted to be a part of the solution. We went home with empty boxes, as most of our new cups and info packets were in the hands of eco-informed coffee drinkers.
Perhaps even more amazing than the amount of people we spoke to was the huge range of people interested. We spoke with everyone from students in Birkenstocks and faculty in suits (and of course, suited students and faculty in Birkenstocks). The message of saving the world with reusable coffee cups is something in which everyone can participate.
If you don’t believe students are active in today’s world, then this event would have blown your mind. Thanks to the guys from Your Revolution for organizing such a big event - you guys rock! If you’d like to read about the event and the groups which participated, you can find an article by The Daily at UW here.
Our compostable-reusable coffee cups have just landed in a new Seattle shop! Not A Number, located just east of the University District on 45th Street in Wallingford (the ‘hood that could), recently began stocking their shelves with our coffee cups. The store is an amalgamation of environmental goodies, political schwag, and gifts and toys that’ll blow your mind. Think a sliver of Spencer’s Gifts, a dash of Politics R Us, and 100% Seattle soul.
The Basics:
Peace Coffee applies the triple bottom line theory throughout a multitude of business aspects. Regional deliveries are done through bio-diesel vans or by bicycle. The coffee beans are grown by small coffee farmers and cooperatives and certified as fair trade. Peace Coffee’s recently installed coffee roaster is also equipped with a 
“Selling Out” can hit business just as bluntly as a hard rock band. Nike’s choice to prioritize profits over social responsibilities by using sweatshop labor caused an uproar in 1997 among consumers. Social justice groups sprang up to protest Nike and demand boycotts. Even my alma mater experienced protests and many student groups demanded that the university athletic programs refrain from outfitting teams with Nike products. The negative publicity was a nightmare for Nike’s PR department, and the company’s reputation has remained stained ever since.
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